Ayeesha K Kamal, Farzin Majeed, Muhammad S Ilyas, Munawar Hussain, Kamran Masood, Bilal Ahmed, Hasan Rehman, Zafar Sajjad, Scott E Kasner
{"title":"Distribution, Severity and Radiologic Features of Intracranial Stenosis in Asymptomatic Pakistanis.","authors":"Ayeesha K Kamal, Farzin Majeed, Muhammad S Ilyas, Munawar Hussain, Kamran Masood, Bilal Ahmed, Hasan Rehman, Zafar Sajjad, Scott E Kasner","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is the most common ischemic stroke subtype globally. It accounts for 30-50% of all ischemic strokes in Asians.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>The aim of the study is to report the frequency of asymptomatic ICAD and its associated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>200 adult participants were recruited from the Radiology Departments of two major diagnostic centers in Karachi. Eligible participants were confirmed for the absence of stroke symptoms via the Questionnaire for Verifying Stroke Free Status (QVSFS). QVSFS negative subjects underwent MRI on a 1.5 Tesla scanner. Images were centrally reviewed on Di com Viewer 3.0 with electronic calipers to calculate the degree of ICAD.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mean age of subjects was 37.1 years (S.D 15.1) with 50.5% men (n=101) and 49.5% women (n=99). Asymptomatic ICAD was found in 34.5% (n=69) subjects. Of the 3800 intracranial arteries studied, 2.2% (n=88) had biological disease. 20.5% (n=18) of these vessels had atherosclerotic irregularities, 43.2% (n=38) had mild stenos is, 11.4% (n=10) had moderate stenos is, 5.7% (n=5) had severe stenos is while 19.3% (n=17) were completely occluded. The posterior cerebral artery (42% of stenosed arteries, n=37) was most affected. 23.5% (n=47) of subjects had peri-ventricular lucencies, 10.5% (n=21) had brain atrophy while 3.5% (n=7) had silent brain infarcts. There was a significant association between asymptomatic ICAD and peri ventricular lucencies (PR 1.59; 95% CI 1.35-1.99).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Asymptomatic ICAD is common in young Pakistanis, with no gender predilection; it preferentially affects the posterior circulation. Silent infarcts are rare compared to peri ventricular lucencies and atrophy.</p>","PeriodicalId":90444,"journal":{"name":"Austin journal of cerebrovascular disease & stroke","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4324652/pdf/nihms641144.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33058171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pre-Clinical Models of Acquired Neonatal Seizures: Differential Effects of Injury on Function of Chloride Co-Transporters.","authors":"Sk Kang, Sd Kadam","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy [HIE] represents the most common acquired pathology associated with neonatal seizures. HIE-associated neonatal seizures are often difficult to control, due to their refractoriness to traditional anti-seizure agents. Developmentally regulated chloride gradients during early development make the neonatal brain more seizure-susceptible by depolarizing GABA<sub>A</sub>R-mediated currents, and therefore hindering inhibition by conventional anti-seizure drugs such as phenobarbital [PB] and benzodiazepines. Pharmaco-modulation of chloride co-transporters has become a current field of research in treating refractory neonatal seizures, and the basis of two clinical trials [NCT01434225; NCT00380531]. However, the recent termination of NEMO study [NCT01434225] on bumetanide, an NKCC1 antagonist, suggests that clinical utilization of bumetanide as an adjunct to treat neonatal seizures with PB may not be a viable option. Hence, re-evaluation of bumetanide as an adjunct through pre-clinical studies is warranted. Additionally, the model-specific variability in the efficacy of bumetanide in the pre-clinical models of neonatal seizures highlights the differential consequences of insults used to induce seizures in each pre-clinical model as worth exploration. Injury itself can significantly alter the function of chloride co-transporters, and therefore the efficacy of anti-seizure agents that follow.</p>","PeriodicalId":90444,"journal":{"name":"Austin journal of cerebrovascular disease & stroke","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290373/pdf/nihms644394.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"32976680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}